


I Feel Numb in This Kingdom

by owltalonss



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-08 08:12:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7750084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owltalonss/pseuds/owltalonss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erin Gilbert knew the elusive and spontaneous blonde could be vulnerable. She saw it first hand when she stood up and gave a speech after their hugest bust yet. Holtzmann just smiled and stood up, and neither of the other badass women knew what was gonna happen. And then she began speaking. Her voice was serious but shaky, taking pauses to gulp, clinking our glasses as she sat down. It was a very uncomfortable but intimate moment shared between them. The blood in Erin's veins had raced a bit during the whole speech. Her eyes became more attentive, memorizing each word and repeating it, trying her best to have the voice in her head sound just as soft as Holtzmann's at that moment. She felt like she was seeing her in a whole new light. And she liked it.<br/>Erin couldn't figure out why she was so infatuated with that side of her. Was it because it was a surprise to see such an outgoing woman who dances to 80s music everyday while handling dangerous and possibly deadly weapons be so timid and shy? Was it because the moment was personal and Erin felt like she was a part of a family again? She truly couldn't figure it out, but she was interested in seeing the vulnerable side of Holtzmann again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Feel Numb in This Kingdom

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first fanfiction in over two years.  
> Hopefully my writing is way better now.  
> This first chapter doesn't have much Holtzbert but I find it funny, so.

Time passed by pretty quickly. It had been quite a while since they trapped Rowan inside the vortex and saved the city. There had been busts here and there but most of the time was spent setting up their new HQ and upgrading gadgets. Holtzmann's mentor makes frequent visits to their firehouse, watching over Holtz intently. Erin has no reason to hate her, but notices the lack of advances Holtz makes towards her when Rebecca is around. It's not like she enjoys Holtzmann's flirtatious remarks ( ~~which she does but wouldn't dare admit~~ ), it's more that the days feel longer when a lot isn't spent occasionally watching Holtz dance or smiling politely at the winks she throws at her. 

If she were honest, Erin felt very uncomfortable with herself and the way she ignores the advances. She was used to loneliness. Columbia didn't offer a lot of suitors for potential friends or significant others, and she forced herself into this bubble and believed she could do fine on her own after she left Abby. Not much has changed even after finding herself a family. And she just feels more alone and uncomfortable with herself when she acknowledges her liking to Kevin because although she knows she doesn't stand a chance, she has still considered to stoop that low a date someone like Kevin. But that's another thought for another day. 

* * *

The day started off like any other; there were empty coffee mugs everywhere, the humming of gadgets, immense clicking of keys from Kevin's desk as he played (and failed) Tetris. And just like any other day, Holtzmann was also being a flirt master. Erin was sat at her desk, nose deep in a physics book she hadn't had the time to read. She had began jotting down some notes that may deem useful to the team when the speakers began blasting an array of guitar chords with unquestionable amounts of tone changers.

There was a groan heard in the little corner of the floor where Patty claimed to be her "quiet place" to read. Erin's left eye twitched and sighed, setting the book down. _I thought we took care of this problem when we gave her the iPod and headphones_ , she thought. While making sure her page was marked, the vocals and trashing of drums came into the mix, looking up to see Holtzmann holding a detached proton blaster like a guitar and "strumming" rapidly while singing along. 

"Fell in love with a girl, I fell in love once and almost completely!" Holtzmann yelled while head-banging immensely, giving Erin a quick wink before continuing to dance and work on parts 

Erin tried her best to not react to the wink physically, playfully rolling her eyes to mask any impulse reaction that could've occurred. She swore she could feel the ground shaking as she stood out of her chair and eyed Holtzmann, trying to get her attention as the blonde began reattaching the blaster to the pack while jumping up and down to the beat, a smug grin on her face.

"Holtzmann." She's still singing, clearly not a care in the world with this one.

"Holtz!" Oh look, now she's using screwdrivers as drumsticks.

" _Jillian Holtzmann!_ " That got her attention. 

Holtz's gaze shot straight up and met Erin's with the same grin, but Erin could see the surprise in her eyes. Holtzmann was never on a first name basis with anyone, really. Holtz just shrugged it off and set all her materials down on the counter, turning the music down just a bit and jumping over a contraption to get near Erin's desk.

"What's up, hot stuff?" The blonde asked in her normal flirtatious manner, completely unfazed with the fact that the screwdriver she just set on the counter shook and fell off due to the vibrations of the still very loud music. 

Completely ignoring the pet name, Erin sighed and pressed the pads of her fingers to her temple, feeling a migraine coming. "Can you please just use your iPod to listen to music? Patty and I need to read in peace and quiet."

Holtz noticed the hand movement, immediately feeling bad about it, her face softening to show it. "Didn't see 'ya guys reading, my bad! But uhh, about that music cuboid..." She trailed off, stuffing her hands in her pockets and letting her gaze meet the ceiling as she turned on her heel and approached the radio to turn the music down more.

Erin's eyes started to widen, terrified of what catastrophic accident happened to the gift they gave her after holding a third intervention about the music. "Holtz, what'd you do?"

"Well it's not what I did, but what my ghost cat did to it." Holtz let out an awkward laugh with a sheepish grin.

Kevin looked up from his computer, head tilted slightly. "Mighos Cat? Holtz, I told you it was Mike Hat, silly!"

Erin's head went to a different place for a second when she heard Kevin, sighing deeply as she heard him. "Different cat, Kevin!"

"Dog, you mean." Kevin corrected her, pointing a finger at the picture of the dog on his desk.

Holtzmann was having a ball watching this conversation. Kevin was surely the lost puppy they never wanted, but would feel weird without. You gotta love him. Erin had to put her attraction to him aside and find a way to distract Kevin again. Holtzmann butted in before she could.

"Hey Kevin, before Abby left, she told me that you have a task to go count all the bricks on the side of the building. We need it for science. Can you do that?"

"Yes, I've always wanted to do that!" Kevin nodded his head before running out the door, completely oblivious to the fact he just pulled out the phone cable and carried the phone with him.

Erin let out a sigh before facing Holtzmann again. "Okay, thanks for that, but ghost cat?! I thought Einstein was alive!"

"You're welcome. And oh, he was! But we had a bit of an accident a week ago when you guys were out getting food. That untested proton gun I have been working on is a bit trigger happy and _clearly_ faulty." The blonde then made her hand into a gun shape and imitated shooting noises and what Erin thought to be as her impression of Einstein's last seconds. Didn't sound pretty. "Don't know exactly why he didn't pass on, maybe he still had more birds to terrorize or somethin'."

Erin's jaw dropped in surprise. "That's actually so cool!" She exclaimed before remembering the main point. "But besides that, what happened to the iPod?"

"I guess there can be Class VI ghost cats? The thing literally swatted the cuboid out the window with his tail! And it wasn't even near the window!"

"Holtzmann!" Erin sighed. Patty was listening in her little corner and snickering like a school child.

"Now that's the kind of ghost 'ya want around! A cute lil' kitty cat." Patty yelled loud enough for them to hear. "I should've asked Rowan to stay as a cat, damn."

Holtzmann turned her gaze to Patty's voice, seeing the tall brunette with streaks of pink and blue make their way towards them. Holtz gave her a smile and reached her hand for Patty to do their special handshake. Erin stared intently at the two, her gaze slightly moving to focus on the blonde's lips as she bit on her bottom lip while concentrating on the handshake. Before anyone could've noticed, she shook her head and let her mind go back to the question at hand.

"Alright, so the iPod is broken but what about your cat?" She was clearly concerned about the apparition, considering it could move items.

"Yeahhh, Einstein is missing. I went looking for him in the alleyway where I originally found him, but I got distracted by this sick industrial pipe."

Before Erin could respond, the front door swung open, and the group were graced with a visible bag of food and Abby's wonderful face. "I come barring gifts!" Holtzmann and Patty's attention went straight to the food, leaving Erin flabbergasted about the cat ghost. Business had been kinda slow so a ghost, no matter how small and harmless, was intriguing to her and she wanted to capture it. Very badly.

When Erin came back to reality she was greeted with a soft touch to her shoulder, blinking a few times before seeing a sandwich in front of her face.

"Here, Erin," Holtzmann placed the sandwich in the redhead's hand while chewing on her own food, "Just eat this sandwich."

Erin was about to give in but realized Abby would back her up, turning to face towards the brunette munching on her sandwich.

"Abby, did you know Holtzmann accidentally killed her cat and it came back as a Class VI entity?" The brunette held a finger out while she finished swallowing her mouth full of food. Abby just had her same normal face as if it didn't faze her at all.

"Oh yeah, Holtz told me a couple days ago." She replied calmly before taking another small bite.

"And you didn't bother to go find it?!" Erin couldn't believe they hid a ghost from her.

"She wanted to wait until you brought up the iPod so she could do her rendition of the cat's death. So we can hunt it tonight."

Erin immediately looked over at Holtzmann who had a cheeky grin on her face. _This is the woman who has taken a liking to me_ , Erin thought. _Why must I attract the weirdos?!_   

 


End file.
